Van Dyke is a villain in Hamster & Gretel, first appearing in the episode "Close Shave". Formerly a scientist who wanted to grow facial hair, he had accidentally turned himself in a Van Dyke beard with the power to take control of anybody he attaches himself onto. Using the body of Mr. Chabner, Van Dyke posed himself as a substitute teacher under Chabner's name in order to locate Gretel and take control over her, so he can take over the world with Gretel's superpowers.
Physical appearance[]
Van Dyke is a sentient, bushy clump of hair that, true to his name, resembles a Van Dyke beard and mustache. He has green eyes with yellow sclera, located on the mustache. His beard acts as a lower jaw when he talks. He also has a deep voice.
Since he got shredded by a lawnmower after his defeat, Van Dyke had to put himself together into a mustache, losing his goatee in the process. His new look appears even bushier than before. Due to the loss of his beard, he no longer has a visible mouth.
Before he became sentient facial hair, Van Dyke was a tall, human scientist with a long face, a pointed nose with a long bridge, and brown hair, who wore a white labcoat over a lilac shirt and a blue tie.
Personality[]
Van Dyke has proclaimed to be a mild-mannered young man that desired to grow facial hair, before becoming facial hair himself. While initially not thrilled with this outcome at all, Van Dyke seems to revel in his new form once he realized he could control people when attaching himself to them. He has a strong desire to take over the world, but aside from the fact that he could control powerful people such as Gretel herself (physical power) or Mayor Meyer (political power), Van Dyke doesn't seem to have a known motivation for said desire. Though, his desire to take over the world is strong enough feel slightly hurt when people find this desire "lame" and "overdone".
Van Dyke has enough acting ability to come off as a real person when possessing someone. He's also brimming with charisma to make people like him, although it may be part of his act. Given that he used to be a scientist, his intellect may have a hand in his acting, too.
Van Dyke doesn't like it when his Van Dyke-style facial hair is being confused for a different kind of facial hairstyle, or if people call it by a different name; this is evidenced by his annoyance when Gretel calls it just a goatee, or a half-beard and mustache, or even a half-beardy goatee, having to repeat the style's actual name right afterwards.
Powers and abilities[]
Van Dyke has the ability to possess anyone whose upper lips he attaches himself onto, being able to control every move they make; however, his voice remains the same. He's also able to fly, as a means to move about. Before becoming a sentient beard and mustache, Van Dyke was intelligent enough to concoct a formula made of facial hair genes and his own DNA, as well as to create a machine that allows for facial hair growth using said formula, although it's that very machine that made him into his current form.
History[]
Background[]
Once a mild-mannered young man, Van Dyke yearned to have a beard and mustache, but was unable to grow facial hair naturally. So, he created a formula that would merge the facial hair gene with his own DNA, and applied it to a beard-growing machine of his own creation, in hopes that he too will finally be able to grow facial hair like a normal man. However, while he initially seemed to succeed, it turned himself into a style of facial hair of his own choosing instead (in his case, a Van Dyke). He was initially shocked about this development, and depressed that he no longer could be a man, but soon realized that he could take control of whoever he attached himself onto, including a bank robber and a ballerina dancer. With this in mind, Van Dyke decided to use this power in attempt to take over the world.
Season 1[]
Prior to the events of "Close Shave", Van Dyke had seen Hamster and Gretel on TV during the interview session from "Empower Failure", deciding that he should possess Gretel for his quest for world domination, as he could take advantage of her superpowers while controlling her. Realizing that the superhero Gretel must be a regular kid who goes to school, Van Dyke had taken possession over Mr. Chabner and has been substituting for two weeks as Mr. Chabner, up until the events of "Close Shave", when he substitutes for Ms. Jamanpour at Eastside Elementary School.
In "Close Shave", Van Dyke is substituting for Gretel's class. While Gretel is suspicious of Mr. Chabner, Van Dyke remains calm and mild-mannered until the end, while secretly studying Gretel. He noted that the girl and her hamster had the same names as the superheroes, but did not quite put it together until he noticed that both Gretels were right-handed. After some mishaps courtesy of Gretel and her suspicions, Van Dyke requests to Gretel she should stay after class, upon which he then reveals his true intentions as he traps Hamster and Gretel, de-attaching himself from Mr. Chabner. After freeing themselves, Hamster and Gretel engage in battle against Van Dyke, but Van Dyke manages to possess Hamster in the progress. After Gretel punches Van Dyke off of Hamster's lips, Van Dyke then strikes and take control over Gretel, before Hamster punches him away again. As he attempts to possess Gretel a second time, Gretel's brother Kevin dives in the way to protect her, as the sentient beard possesses him in the process instead. Van Dyke then uses Kevin's body to threaten her, only to be stopped by Fred, who sprays hair removal onto him. This removes Van Dyke from Kevin's face and weakens him. As Van Dyke crawls away while stating he will return, he gets shredded by a lawnmower.
Inbetween the events of "Close Shave", and "Over the Hill", Van Dyke attempts to put himself together; thanks to the lawnmower incident, Van Dyke appears to not have enough hair left for his beard, so now he appears as a bushier mustache. He decides for his next attempt at world domination, that he should take control of a really good-looking man, eventually finding one posing at Photography by Raúl. With his brains and his new host's good looks, Van Dyke is assured that he could get a job in television in order to get close to Mayor Meyer, possess him, take over the city, and then the world.
In "Over the Hill", Van Dyke, as Harrison Philtrum, manages to get the job of lead serious correspondent at Action News over reporter Veronica Hill, who was previously in line to get the position and interview the mayor. Leaving Veronica's dreams crushed, Van Dyke has seemingly won over everyone else at corporate with his charms; although Bailey and especially Gretel, who were shadowing Veronica for career day, were suspicious of him; Gretel in particular finding Philtrum familiar. After Bailey points out that the philtrum is the two lines on the upper lip, Gretel realizes that "Harrison Philtrum", or "Harry Philtrum", sounds like "hairy philtrum" (a mustache) and that this news reporter must be Van Dyke. His cover blown, Van Dyke engages in another fight with Gretel, taking control of Mayor Meyer in the process. Veronica then decides she needs to interview Van Dyke in order to find out why he's doing this. After the interview, combat between Gretel and Van Dyke continues as he gets attached to various people while Gretel tries to get him off, eventually ending up on Gretel's lip again, before then finding himself on Bailey's lip. Kevin then arrives with Hamster and Jacques Cassoulet's patented Prim-O-Matic, as Hamster tries to punch Van Dyke off of Bailey, as Van Dyke engulfs him. Before Hamster is possessed, he flies into the Prim-O-Matic and tells Kevin to put it on the highest setting, shredding Van Dyke even worse than the lawnmower.
List of appearances[]
Season 1[]
- "Close Shave" (First appearance)
- "Over the Hill"
Trivia[]
- Van Dyke is the first antagonist who has found out about Hamster and Gretel's secret identities.
- Van Dyke shares his voice actor, Casey Hamilton with both of his prior initial targets, Mr. Chabner and Harrison Philtrum.